Administrative Law

Embattled disability lawyer featured on ‘60 Minutes’ says he served clients ‘with honor and dignity’

Am embattled Kentucky disability lawyer who was featured on 60 Minutes on Sunday and under investigation by a U.S. Senate committee has spoken publicly for the first time about the probe. “The truth will be forthcoming,” attorney Eric Conn told WKYT, urging observers not to rush to judgment. “I have…

Oct 10, 2013 5:05 PM CDT

‘Puffed up and angry’ park ranger tickets tourists for hiking on federal land during budget shutdown

Two tourists from California say they didn’t think they were violating any major rule by taking a hike in a national park in Nevada on Saturday, despite the federal budget shutdown. But they wound up with tickets that could cost them up to $275 apiece, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.…

Oct 9, 2013 6:09 PM CDT

Disability lawyer featured on ‘60 Minutes’ takes Fifth during Senate committee hearing

A high-earning Kentucky disability lawyer featured in a 60 Minutes television segment that aired Sunday subsequently took the Fifth during a U.S. Senate committee hearing. Eric Conn told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that his lawyer had explained in an Oct. 7 letter why he wished to…

Oct 8, 2013 4:35 PM CDT

NJ couple OKs $1 settlement in eminent domain suit over their lost ocean view

A New Jersey couple has accepted a $1 settlement in their five-year-old lawsuit against the state over the building of a protective sand dune behind their beachfront home. Harvey and Phyllis Karan had contended that the 22-foot high sand dune blocked their panoramic view of the ocean, Reuters reports. The…

Sep 26, 2013 9:15 PM CDT

Debt collector accused of posing as law firm will pay $1M in first FTC case over texts

A California-based debt collector has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission case. The collection company allegedly falsely portrayed itself as a law firm and sent text messages to debtors which didn’t include a validation notice with information required by law to be provided in an…

Sep 26, 2013 5:55 PM CDT

TD Bank to pay $52.5M to settle regulatory complaints related to ex-attorney Rothstein’s $1.2B fraud

Without admitting wrongdoing, Canada’s second-largest bank has agreed to pay $52.5 million to settle complaints by U.S. regulators that it failed to put the brakes on a Florida lawyer who used his accounts at Toronto-Dominion Bank in a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme for which he is now serving a 50-year…

Sep 24, 2013 7:45 PM CDT

Hungry lawyers, health-conscious clients make Bay Area ground zero in Big Food fight

The same lawyers who once took on the tobacco industry are now waging legal war against so-called Big Food makers in half a dozen states. But the San Francisco Bay Area, known for its health-conscious foodie residents, is ground zero for such litigation, which hungry lawyers have pursued in dozens…

Sep 10, 2013 10:24 AM CDT

FCC agrees to limit charges for prison phone calls

The Federal Communications Commission voted to restrict phone rates for calls made by prison inmates. The measure, which comes after nearly a decade of petitioning by families and friends of inmates, will limit phone charges to 21 cents a minute for debit or prepaid calls and 25 cents a minute…

Aug 9, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

State ordered to pay $75K legal-fee award to PETA as it protests ban on New Year possum-drop

Even though it had been ordered by a North Carolina administrative law judge to stop issuing a temporary permit that allowed a Brasstown business to capture a wild possum and lower the animal, in a clear plastic box, to the ground at midnight on New Year’s Eve, a state agency…

Jul 30, 2013 8:35 PM CDT

Supersize sugary soda ban exceeded NYC health board’s powers, state appeals court says

A New York Supreme Court judge got it right earlier this year when he invalidated a New York City ban on selling soda and other sugary drinks in cups over 16 ounces, a state appellate court held Tuesday. “Like Supreme Court, we conclude that in promulgating this regulation, the Board…

Jul 30, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

Fired court worker says she saw judge have sex with bailiff; judge calls claim ‘false and baseless’

A fired Florida court worker says she lost her job recently after walking in on a state-court judge having sex on a table in her chambers with a bailiff last year. Alisha Rupp filed a discrimination complaint with the state this week and said in a subsequent news conference at…

Jul 26, 2013 4:20 PM CDT

DC Circuit blocks import of lethal injection drug

A federal appeals court has upheld a court order that blocks importation of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental, a sedative used to anesthetize inmates before they receive drugs that cause death. The U.S. Court of Appeals said the Food and Drug Administration should not have allowed states to import…

Jul 24, 2013 1:51 PM CDT

Cease-and-desist letter on Ky. AG’s letterhead spurs suit by parenting columnist

The Kentucky Attorney General’s office says one of its lawyers “inadvertently” used its official letterhead when he sent a cease-and-desist letter to a nationally syndicated parenting columnist. The letter by assistant attorney general Brian Judy, dispatched to John Rosemond, said the columnist should stop calling himself a psychologist and engaging…

Jul 23, 2013 12:07 PM CDT

Magician needs disaster plan for his rabbit, USDA says in letter

Marty the Magician received a letter this summer from the U.S. Agriculture Department informing him that he needed a disaster plan for his rabbit. Magician Marty Hahne learned he needed a license for his rabbit when a USDA inspector showed up at one of his magic shows in 2005, the…

Jul 17, 2013 11:46 AM CDT

Man ticketed for picking dandelions forced to pay $75 fine

An elderly Chicago area man whose $75 ticket for picking dandelions for food drew international attention was left angry and embarrassed this week after he was forced to pay the fine. John Taris, who lives with his wife on a fixed income, said the fine for foraging in a Cook…

Jul 12, 2013 5:07 PM CDT